We are not yet at the top – Avram Grant 

Zambia head coach Avram Grant says his side is not yet a top level side on the continent but are working towards it. 

The Israeli gaffer said the team have made a lot of progress in the last year and are working on reducing the gap between them and the top sides on the continent. 

He believes that gap can be closed by doing some things right like professionalism in the squad. 

“It’s not a secret that we do not have players who play in the top clubs in Europe but we saw  against Ivory Coast that we can close the gap by other things and part of it was by being professional,” he said. 

“You know I don’t like to set targets. We have to be reasonable. We are Pot 3 which means they are two teams that are better than us on paper but also Ivory Coast was better than us so. These things stay on the paper. We need to be realistic, look in the mirror, see what we have and pick the best parts but if we say we are the top, No we are not in the top but that’s our target. There are things we need to sort on and off the pitch in order to be better. It’s part of the progress of the team.”

Grant says they have been analysing the team’s in the group since the draws were made. 

The former Chelsea boss says the analysis also extends to the team and the areas of weakness. He is however happy with the ability to score a lot of goals in games. 

“We started analysing our opponents the moment we were drawn against them. We will know everything about the other teams but they will also know about us,” Grant told the ZamFoot Crew. 

“Even before I came , I analysed the team, I saw that they were not organised. It’s not just about our weaknesses but also our strengths, we are always working. It’s not normal that we score so many goals and work so hard. Part of it is that we want to be an attractive team. We will not win all our games but it’s about how we recover. So you can have a bad game as long as you give 100 percent. We lost the last game but it’s an education for us to work on some areas that we need to.”

On American based defender Aime Mabika missing the tournament, Grant said he is not worried because he has not been part of the team since he arrived. 

“Not at all, he has not been part of the team until now. I don’t even know what  he looks like. If he will show desire to be in the team, he will be part of the team. He is injured so we can not talk about this. Players need to show desire, quality and passion to give everything for their country. It’s a privilege for the players to give the people happiness, but it comes by hard work. We are not where I want to be but we have made progress.”

The Chipolopolo squad currently in camp has a number of youngsters who Grant says have a chance to make the final squad should they impress. 

“If they will be good for me it doesn’t matter at the moment for me who is young and who is not, the only important thing is quality. The young players we took are because they can play. They need to show themselves, desire,quality and understand the game. Even senior players look at Sunzu. He trained hard with our physical trainer Jamie Lawrence, he is an example for everyone,” he said. 

After the local camp coach Avram Grant will announce the squad of at least 27 players that will go to Saudi Arabia for the international camp next week. 

While in Saudi Arabia, the Chipolopolo will play two international friendly matches against Cameroon and a yet to be confirmed opponent.

The Chipolopolo are in Group F alongside Congo DR, Morocco, and Tanzania.

Zambia’s first match is on January 17 against Congo before playing Tanzania four days later.

The final group match will be against Morocco on January 24.